Bottom line
- Total investment $49K – $201K including a $15K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 75/100.
- Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Watters International Realty unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
64%
Above typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Watters International Realty franchisees operate real estate brokerage and sales operations, likely focusing on residential or commercial transactions. Daily activities include client acquisition, property listings, sales negotiations, transaction processing, and team management within their assigned market.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 12 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Watters International Realty presents HIGH RISK due to active litigation against the franchisor, undisclosed financial performance, minimal system size with unknown growth, and going concern status—making franchisee support and ROI validation critically uncertain.
Score breakdown · what drove the 75 / 100 rating
- 01MINORPending breach of contract and non-compete lawsuit by franchisor suggests systemic operational/relationship issues
- 02HIGHMultiple litigation exposures including fraud allegations in real estate transactions and anti-trust settlement indicate governance and compliance concerns
- 03MINOROnly 10 units with unknown growth trajectory suggests stagnant or declining system; no Item 19 financial performance disclosure prevents ROI validation
- 04MEDWide investment range ($49,350–$200,750) without disclosed average revenue/net income creates opacity around actual profitability and payback period
- 05MEDNo protected territory combined with 6–10% royalty fee on undisclosed revenues increases competitive risk and cash flow unpredictability
- 06HIGHGoing concern flag indicates franchisor financial instability, raising questions about support, training, and system viability
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
16 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Watters International Realty · FDD (2025) PDF